Going, Going, Gone
by DiehardJavaJunkie14
Summary: My entry for the "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" ficathon. The Mission? A Luke and Lorelai hookup within the confines of "Kill Me Now"... enjoy. Rated M... for a reason.
1. Batter Up

**A/N: Yes, people, yes, Java has finally broken down and started an ADULT rated story. You are not hallucinating. It's completely, 100 real. On to the important stuff. This is my piece for the "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" ficathon... "Kill Me Now" was my assigned episode, and man, this took forever to figure out! Thanks to Filo and Robinpoppins for organizing the ficathon and for thinking of me when I totally screwed up and didn't know that a ficathon was going on. So... enjoy the story, especially the ending! ADULT RATING IS FOR A REASON...**

* * *

Lorelai pulled the sides of her sweater close together as her stomach gurgled its disapproval of being neglected for so long. It was a little too chilly for such a thin sweater, but the weatherman said it was supposed to be unseasonably sunny and warm. The sweater had called her name from the clearance rack a week prior, so it was the first, and probably last, opportunity she would have had to wear it that season. Shivering, she regretted being overzealous in trying to push one more summery outfit into the early fall.

She smiled as she approached the yellow coffee cup sign outside the diner. It was the only place she wanted to be after a long day at the inn. Lorelai walked into Luke's, taking a seat across from Rory. Shivering and rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she looked across the diner at Luke, who was busy with another customer. Turning her attention from Luke to Rory, Lorelai could sense that Rory was upset about something. The look on Rory's face was not a happy one, by any means. It wasn't uncommon since Rory had started attending Chilton, but this was a completely new combination of looks.

She stared at her daughter for a moment, trying to interpret the facial expression. Rory looked tired, frustrated, and confused all at once. Lorelai could immediately recognize the emotions, but she would have to dig to find the culprit. She pulled in her chair and folded her cold hands on the cold surface of the table, looking to get to the bottom of things.

"What's wrong, sweets?" she inquired, absently playing with a broken fingernail.

Rory said nothing, but handed her mother a thin brochure. Lorelai took one look at it and laughed. She quickly covered her mouth and tried to stifle her amusement as she accepted the brochure. Rory was roped into something… what it was, she wasn't sure. Lorelai had a feeling that she would have to hide her amusement extremely well. "The Chilton sports brochure?"

"Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are," Rory muttered, picking at a string on the sleeve of her sweater.

"Hon, if a sport is the only thing missing from your college application, you'll certainly be better off than the others."

"I have to play a sport," Rory replied, sipping her coffee. "For credit. Stupid Chilton."

Lorelai cringed. Rory was fairly coordinated, but sports were never her calling. Sports weren't Lorelai's favorite pastime either. Lorelai probably passed on her lack of athletic ability to Rory. Rory was trying hard to adjust to Chilton as it was… and Rory's requirement to play a sport came along to complicate the situation.

It was about time for some coffee. Lorelai waved at Luke, hoping to get his attention, but he completely passed her by. Frustrated, Lorelai rolled the brochure in her hands. She thought of any alternative she could. "Well, maybe they have a salsa dancing class you can try? Dancing is a sport, right? I can whip out my Gloria Estefan greatest hits album and we can have a salsa party. With salsa and chips. We could even watch Spanish soap operas without the subtitles."

"Salsa dancing, along with any other kind of dancing, is out."

"Aw, why?"

"I don't know, they probably don't think dancing is a sport."

"Well, don't try yoga, that's for sure. Yoga kills," Lorelai said with a nod. "Where is Luke? I need withdrawal symptoms like I need a hole in the head."

"He's been busy all night," Rory answered, sipping the last of her coffee. "Back to my problem, please?"

"What, your sports issue is more important than my lack of caffeine? Please."

"They have a list in that little packet of what I can choose from," Rory explained. "I don't think there's a single sport in there that I know a thing about."

Opening the brochure, Lorelai skimmed the background information about the credits and went straight for the list. "Pick a letter, any letter, and I'll introduce you to the wide, wide world of sports you never knew existed," she teased. "Some of these have funny names."

"I wish I could get out of this," Rory grumbled. "I mean, I'd even try a Sanskrit class. I'd do choir, or maybe an art class. Anything but sports."

"We could try having Mrs. Kim go into Chilton and condemn the sports program," Lorelai mused. "We could convert and start going to their services, and have their pastor sign a form saying that playing a sport is against your religion, and we could sue for religious discrimination if they make you play. We could pay Luke to give us coffee first when we walk in."

Rory sighed. "Somehow I don't think that will work, especially because we're not Korean. And Luke's not going to accept extra money to serve us first. Your plan is pretty much useless."

"You had to get all logical on me, didn't you? Okay, back to your dilemma."

"What are my choices? Let me rephrase that. Okay, what are my choices besides becoming a Seventh Day Adventist and having to make our own secret floorboards?"

Lorelai flipped through the brochure and jerked her hand back suddenly. "Ow!" she said, looking down at her finger. "See, it's a sign from God, Rory! I'm bleeding! I got a paper cut and this is a clear message that you should not attempt any outdoor physical recreational activities."

"Ha ha," Rory replied, unenthused. "I'd rather not get on their bad side. Let's avoid that if at all possible. Pick a sport, any sport, that sounds do-able and I'll try it."

"Do-able," Lorelai snickered. "Dirty." She looked at the brochure, glancing from the pictures of girls in their gym uniforms to the list of sports offered at Chilton. Rory was right; starting off on a bad note by refusing to play sports wasn't going to get Rory into Harvard. She closed her eyes and arbitrarily picked a letter. "Okay. We've got… Jugger. Apparently you use pool noodles, and you start… I don't know. It looks like you hit people, or the ball, with these giant noodles."

"Sounds vicious."

"Korfball… wait, that's not a sport native to the United States, let's at least get you a sport with a funny name that started here," Lorelai insisted.

Rory sighed. "I just need a sport that I can get a crash course in, and soon. I can wait to take the actual class until spring semester because teams are already picked for the fall semester. I just need to choose one, and show that I've 'demonstrated my abilities' for the coach. That means I need to be able to do something in one of these sports by the end of the week. Then I get to let it stew until spring. I wonder if I would still earn credit for the course if I injured myself. It's a likely possibility."

"Demonstrating your abilities, well that's another DIRTY! And you know, that's a good question, I'd say twist that ankle the first day," Lorelai said, looking up from the brochure and flashing a smile, trying to get her daughter to look on the bright side. Lorelai could sense Rory's hesitation, so she closed the brochure. "Sweets, Harvard will look at you and go, 'wow, this kid has everything, and she sucked up a semester of gym to do it.' You'll get it over with and you won't have to do it again."

"Okay," Rory said with a nod. "Sounds like a good idea. Just find me a good sport."

"Well, we're going to try, aren't we?" she replied, picking up the brochure once again. "Let's try alphabetical order. Archery."

Rory cringed. "I don't even want to attempt that. All I can picture is a William Tell type of situation gone wrong, and that would be really bad."

"Duly noted. Okay, then, well, we also have beach rugby, beach handball, beach soccer… is this actually on a beach? You could get a tan," Lorelai said, raising her eyebrows.

"Obviously not," Rory said, reaching for a French fry. "I think it's a giant sand pit."

Lorelai pouted, looking around the diner for Luke. She had tried to get Luke's attention several times already and was snubbed each time. She wasn't going to be ignored again. "Well, that's only fun when you're four. Luke! Coffee, please?"

"I think this is dumb," Rory said, taking the brochure from Lorelai and flipping through it once more. "I mean, if I want to be Christiane Amanpour, why do I need to know how to shoot a big orange bouncy ball through a circle thing with a net? It's not going to be something that makes or breaks my survival in foxholes."

Ignoring Rory's rant, Lorelai nodded and grunted in agreement, tilting her head to the side and watching Luke's every move. The aroma of coffee was dancing under her nose, almost teasing her, but Luke was on the other side of his establishment, taking someone's order. She crossed her legs, bit her cheek and crossed her arms. If her frustration wasn't already apparent, it would become more so momentarily. She had gotten used to being paid attention to from the moment she walked into the diner. And there Luke was, taking _someone else's_ order.

"Are you listening, Mom?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I think it's stupid, but it's Chilton, right?"

Her response bought a little more time to inwardly question why Luke wasn't bringing her coffee. He would pay for this, Lorelai thought to herself. Her need for coffee was growing stronger by the second, and her patience was long gone. Suddenly, she connected Rory's crisis with the man who seemed to be far too preoccupied to serve her coffee. Luke was a sports guy; he would have an answer for Rory. There would be a sport for her, and Luke was going to suggest it.

She giggled slightly and straightened up in her chair. This could be the grounds for reconciliation. Rory and Luke having a conversation about sports would absolutely make her day. She grinned as she imagined the situation unfolding. Luke would ask Rory about a sports term, Rory would be confused, and Lorelai would sit back, sipping her coffee and enjoying the show.

And suddenly her daydream was over. Luke walked over to Lorelai, pouring her the long awaited cup of coffee. "You know what you want to order?"

"Busy tonight, huh?" Lorelai asked, taking the brochure from Rory and placing it on the table.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, one would be able to figure that out due to the volume of customers in the establishment. What can I get you?"

Completing the "B" column of Rory's brochure, she placed it on the table and turned to face Luke. She thought for a moment about her order, and then something made her pick the brochure up again. Her idea for Luke's peace offering that he didn't know he had to make was evolving. Lorelai flipped quickly through the pages, looked at the "B" column once more, and looked up at Luke, grinning. "Baseball starts with 'B', Rory! And look! Right over here, we have your instructor, Coach Danes! I'll bet he provides coffee to the spectators and fans as well."

"Whatever you're trying to get me to do, the answer's no," Luke muttered, pulling out his ordering pad and a pencil. "Seriously, are you going to order? You said it yourself, I'm busy tonight."

Lorelai sighed. "Luke, Rory has to get a crash course in a sport by Friday. And you're the only one who would be willing to work with her to get her a passing grade. You play baseball. Teach Rory."

"I never said I was willing," Luke replied defensively. "And it's a complicated sport."

"It can't be that difficult," Lorelai scoffed. "And if you teach her, I'll forgive your lack of interest in serving me my coffee in a decent time frame."

"Baseball's a spring sport, Rory," Luke said, turning to the younger Gilmore. "And wouldn't you want to try something a little less… intense?"

Rory shrugged. "I just want to pass gym. I just need the basics by Friday to show the coach and then I can play next spring."

Luke took off his baseball cap, holding it in his hand and scratching his head. He placed the baseball cap back on his head and rolled his eyes. "You aren't giving me a choice here, are you?"

Lorelai took a long sip of coffee. She knew Luke was only pretending to be aggravated by her request, but she decided to play mind games with him again. After all, it was amusing watching him rant. "Have you seen 'Pretty Woman'?"

"Why would I have seen 'Pretty Woman'?" he grumbled.

"Well, anyway. There's this scene when Julia Roberts goes into a department store after she's transformed from a prostitute to a 'lady'. And she gets all this help that she didn't get before."

"Is there a point to this story, or am I going to have to figure out what you want to eat by osmosis?"

"So there's this salesman guy. And the guy is helping Julia Roberts try on her shoes and Julia says 'Wow, Edward would love that tie!' Then the salesman takes it off because the manager tells him to give it to her to give to Richard Gere."

"Why would she give the tie to Richard Gere?" Luke asked.

"Because he is Edward in this movie. But anyway, the guy takes off the tie, after the manager yells at him. That's about how much of a choice you have at this very moment."

"I'm guessing that's none at all."

"You are correct," Lorelai said with a nod. "Come on, Luke. This is for Rory's future. If Rory doesn't get into Harvard, and it was because of this one stupid sports requirement, I'm coming to you and making you feel guilty about this for the rest of your life. And then you'll be driven to such extreme amounts of guilt you shut yourself up in a closet for the rest of your life and agonize over this decision, leaving me coffeeless. This is a lose-lose situation if you say no."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll help you learn to play baseball."

"Thank you, Luke," Rory said with a genuine smile. "Seriously, you won't regret helping me. I'm not going to waste any time, I'll practice, and I'll be a really good student."

"Do you have anything going on tomorrow after school?"

"What's tomorrow, Thursday? Oh, no, is one day going to be enough time? What if I forget everything? What if I can't even comprehend all of this material in one day? You said it yourself, baseball is a complicated sport!"

"Relax, it's not that hard. We can meet up at the softball field and I'll help you out."

Rory let out a huge sigh of relief. "You're coming with me, you know," she said to Lorelai, who had folded the brochure into a paper airplane and was preparing it for takeoff.

Lorelai sighed. "I'm coming with you?"

"You knew you were going to anyway," Rory shrugged. "You're all about the 'A League of Their Own' references."

"Minus Stillwell Angel and you've got yourself a deal, sister," Lorelai said with a nod.

"I don't know of any annoying brats I can bring along yet, so I think that's a given," Rory teased.

Luke cleared his throat. "So are you going to order now or should I go to another table and make you wait another twenty minutes before I come back to refill your coffee?"

"Actually, I'll take a cheeseburger and a plate of chicken fingers," Lorelai answered. "I'm twice as hungry because it took you twice as long to come over and ask me what I wanted."

"You're a lunatic," he said, walking back into the kitchen after taking Lorelai's order.

Rory took a sip of her freshly refilled coffee mug and smiled. "Well that makes me feel about fifty times better about my sport. Knowing you're coming with me is also reassuring."

"Why's that?" Lorelai asked.

"There will be someone who sucks more than I do so I don't look so bad," Rory said, grinning at her subtle insult.

Lorelai gasped, reaching for the brochure. She let it go, aiming directly at Rory's shoulder, but watched as it sailed past Rory's ear and landed in Kirk's tomato soup. Lorelai collapsed into a fit of giggles, causing Rory to turn around. "My brochure is in Kirk's soup?"

"I aimed for your shoulder!"

"Looks like a sign from God," Rory teased. "Your sports career is already sunk."

The comment made Lorelai straighten up at the table. She took a moment to collect herself before she tucked her hair behind her ears. Taking a deep breath, pulling her chair in, and folding her hands on the table, she smiled at Rory. "I guess we'll see who has what it takes tomorrow, then, won't we?"

"You may need the Gatorade in a funky helmet to keep up, my friend."

Lorelai snorted. "Oh, please, I'll be sweating purple-ish beads and you'll wonder why."

"We'll see tomorrow, then, won't we?" Rory replied. "I have to do well because this is for a grade. But we'll see."

"I guess we will, then," Lorelai said with a nod.


	2. Digging In

**A/N: I want to thank all of you for your great feedback! You rock! Thanks to my beta, R.M. Jackson, for sending me on a search to find out the correct spelling of a word I thought I'd never type. You rock! And thanks to the ladies at BWR for your cheerleading... the chapter you're waiting for will come soon!**

* * *

The splitting headache that Lorelai was experiencing grew worse as the twins fought in front of her. Why anyone in their right mind would encourage a double wedding for their children was beyond Lorelai. Glancing over at the girls' mother, Lorelai let out a sigh. She knew she was only getting a tiny taste of what their mother had dealt with for her entire life. Standing next to the two arguing sisters, she searched for a welcome excuse to escape.

It didn't even have to be a believable one at this point; Lorelai just needed something to get her through the next few minutes. Her prayers were answered as the telephone rang. Catching the bewildered mother's attention, Lorelai politely excused herself and ran to the desk to get the telephone.

"Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking," Lorelai answered, nearly dropping the phone as she picked it up.

"If verbal ping pong was a sport, I would so try out for it," Rory said from the other line.

Lorelai grinned at the sound of her daughter's voice. She sounded rather perky compared to the encounter in the diner. She tapped Michel on the shoulder, pointing to the arguing twins. As he protested, she shot him an intimidating glare, which sent him off running to assist the two. She leaned against the counter, reveling in her manipulative abilities. "Oh, well, I'll always challenge someone to a game of verbal ping pong; we should start a league. It will be like bowling, only without the funny shoes and the big balls… was that just a little dirty?"

"Try extremely dirty."

"Who did you get into the verbal ping pong match with?"

Rory sighed. "My advisor. I begged for an extension on that little sports deadline. Because, first of all, I'm a quick study, but I freeze up sometimes. Freezing up is not something I want to do. Second, putting all that pressure on Luke isn't fair. Learning any type of sport is a complicated process. You can't just magically expect someone to understand what's going on. So, I got until next Friday because I ended up explaining that I wanted to study for my English exam instead of running a mile."

"And I'm guessing by the 'hey, look at me, I'm about ready to rip off my jersey to expose my bra' tone in your voice that you got your extension?"

"At Chilton, while physical excellence is important, mental excellence is our top priority," Rory said, distorting her voice to sound like that of her advisor. "Therefore, we will allow one week's grace period. But don't think that we'll forget about you, Miss Gilmore."

Lorelai grinned. "Did you start singing the Breakfast Club theme song to assure them that you don't want them to forget you?"

Rory giggled. "Then they would have signed me up for chorus and a sport. I'll quit while I'm ahead."

"Ah, well, I had to ask. I mean, you're quite bold for your first few weeks at Chilton, you could have surprised us all."

"I can be bold when it comes to fair academic assessment. It's something I'm very passionate about."

Lorelai snorted. "Even in your boldness, I bet you had a persuasive speech in the pocket of your blazer in case you got nervous."

"Are you mocking me?" Rory responded sarcastically.

"So what if I am?"

"I had a spare copy in my backpack and I had the original in my hands," she admitted. "In case of an emergency."

Looking over at the temporarily appeased brides, Lorelai giggled. "Jinkies, Fred and Daphne. That's what I thought! The mystery is now solved and we can all sleep tonight knowing that Rory's inner motives have been exposed."

"If it weren't for you meddling kids and your dumb dog, I would have successfully completed my plan," Rory muttered.

"Do you want to go to Luke's for some Scooby Snacks later?" Lorelai queried, sorting through the pile of mail on the desk. The sound of a trip to the diner perked Lorelai up; she wanted a cup of Luke's coffee to get her through the day.

"I'm going to pass," Rory replied. "I have a huge English test to study for. Remember what I told my advisor? That wasn't a lie, you know. I can use this stuff to my advantage without lying."

Lorelai sighed. "You're bold enough to protest, but you're not quite at the lying stage?"

"I suppose," Rory teased.

"Fine, but don't expect to ride in the Mystery Machine if you don't come with me."

"I'll pass," Rory said. "But next time I'll ride with you to the malt shop. Just make Freddy take off that stupid orange scarf thing, it makes him look gay."

"It's an ascot! However, I'll be sure to let Daphne know your opinion."

"Good. Because Freddy's supposed to be Daphne's boyfriend, not Shaggy's. See ya."

"Bye," Lorelai said, hanging up the telephone.

* * *

After Lorelai settled more arguments between the feuding brides, reassured their mother that everything would be okay, and found a free moment to escape, the only place she wanted to be was at Luke's. She was starving and seriously contemplating ordering almost everything on the menu.

And the coffee didn't sound so bad, either.

Lorelai finally reached the diner. The bells that rang as she walked through the door were an extremely welcome sound. She took a seat at the counter after taking a look around and finding the diner completely empty. "Oh, I get it. It's a joke. You wanted to annoy me yesterday, but today the diner's a ghost town."

"I don't control where people want to eat and when they want to eat," Luke muttered. "I just serve them when they decide they want to eat something here. What are you ordering?"

Lorelai reached for a menu and swatted Luke's hand with it. "I haven't even thought past the coffee. Which I'm still waiting for, by the way."

"You walked in two seconds ago," Luke replied, motioning to the door.

Lorelai snorted. "Please. You know after all these years that I want my coffee up front. You shouldn't even have to ask me anymore."

Luke turned to the coffee pot, reached for a mug, and filled it to the brim with coffee. He carefully placed it in front of Lorelai, and returned to the coffee pot. He exchanged the fresh pot of coffee for his ordering pad and pencil. "There. You have your coffee, up front. It's a fresh pot, and you have your pick of tables. No one else is here; therefore, I can serve you right away. All you have to do is decide what you want to eat. Are you happy now?"

"I am thrilled," Lorelai said. She scanned the menu, closed it, and placed it in front of her. She ran her hands through her curly hair, deep in thought about her dinner. "You know what? I haven't had this in forever, and it just sounds so good right now. I think I want a meatloaf dinner."

"That's not the special for today," Luke replied without looking up from the ordering pad. "It's Thursday, the special's on the board."

She put the menu down, crossing her arms. "Another thing you should know is that I never go by your daily specials. What baffles me is that you've never cared until now."

"I've always cared," Luke grumbled, writing the order down and tearing it off the pad of paper. "I just didn't say anything until now."

She took a sip of coffee and raised her eyebrows. "It took you years to say something," she said with a nod. "And you're still not forbidding me from actually ordering the delicious meatloaf dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy on the side. Interesting."

"Are you going to shut up anytime soon?" he asked, making the necessary changes and bringing Lorelai's order into the kitchen.

"Think back, all these years…"

"Well, I guess that's a no," he muttered, emerging from the kitchen.

She placed the menu back where it came from and she put her purse on the seat next to her. "I just came by to thank you for offering to help Rory with the sports thing."

"I didn't offer," Luke replied. "You roped me into it."

She grinned. "Well, regardless. You're doing it, and I thank you."

"When are we meeting? Are you going to be able to run after eating a meatloaf dinner?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "Rory got an extension from her advisor. You now have a week to make her the next… insert really good baseball player here."

"I suppose you're going to have to brush up on your sports terminology to enjoy the witty banter while we practice," Luke said sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes. "There's plenty of sports movies that I can stick in at anytime. I've seen Space Jam before, you know."

"Well, there will be no animated Looney Tunes animals when we practice."

Lorelai snapped her fingers. "Bugs Bunny really does play all those positions at once in the old cartoon; I just really wanted to see it in real life."

"You must be devastated," Luke said sarcastically.

"Do you have all of the… stuff?"

"What stuff?"

"The… baseball bats, the baseballs, the… whatever else you need for baseball?"

Luke nodded. "I have it taken care of."

"So what does Rory have to do?"

He shrugged. "Show up."

"I'll bet you a million dollars she's already researching," Lorelai insisted. "She'll start spitting out the history of baseball to you when we start practice."

"She can do that," Luke started. "Whatever earns her a good grade."

"Thanks again, Luke," Lorelai said, sipping her coffee. "In case I haven't expressed my gratitude enough. Can we meet you Saturday afternoon at the field?"

He nodded. "Sounds good. I'm going to check on your dinner."

She smiled. In just that short conversation, Luke made quite a few sacrifices for Lorelai. And for Rory. Taking another sip of her coffee, she thought about how glad she was that she trusted Luke enough to let him help Rory.

* * *

Lorelai sat at the dinner table that Friday night, trying to figure out just how her mother could be so callous with her maids. She sighed, deciding to chalk it up as one of life's imponderables and move on. The four Gilmores were nearly silent as they ate their dessert until Emily decided to start a new conversation.

"So, Lorelai, how are things at that charming little inn of yours?" she asked.

"They're still charming and little. We're just crossing our fingers it doesn't assert itself and become rude and large," Lorelai teased, not anticipating a response of any kind about her joke. She'd become accustomed to it after the past few Friday night dinners.

"Mom's having a huge wedding there this week," Rory added, trying to help Lorelai's cause.

"Really?"

Lorelai smiled at Rory. She was stunned at the genuinely interested tone in Emily's voice. "Yeah, actually, there are people coming from all over the country."

"Well, isn't that nice?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah."

As they continued to eat their dessert, Lorelai prepared more answers to Emily's questions about the big wedding. After a moment of awkward silence, Emily's questions were directed toward Rory. "Rory, how's Chilton?"

Lorelai sighed in frustration. A civil conversation was abruptly ended, and the frustration on both sides was building. "Okay, done with me now," she muttered, glaring at Emily.

Emily glared at Lorelai from across the table. "I'm sorry, was there more to the story?" she asked condescendingly.

"Uh, Rory has to pick a team sport to play," Lorelai said, once again feeling the tension that Emily's attention brought with it. She felt bad for putting the focus on Rory once again. She shot her daughter an apologetic look and waited for her to respond.

Rory nodded, crossing her legs. "It's a requirement."

"Physical fitness is as important as intellectual fitness. So says Plato and so say I," Richard said with a nod.

Lorelai settled back on the couch and relaxed as the conversation continued. Emily seemed immediately hooked, and she could deal with the abrupt shift in topics so long as things were peaceful.

"What sport are you going to pick?" Emily asked.

"Well," Rory started. "I'm not really the athletic type, but…"

"I told her she should go out for the debating team," Lorelai interjected, taking a sip of her drink.

"It's not a sport," Rory replied.

Lorelai shrugged. "It's the way the Gilmores play."

Emily ignored Lorelai's comment and turned her attention to her granddaughter once again. "So, what are your choices?" she asked.

Rory's eyes widened. "God, there's like a thousand of them: basketball, lacrosse, swimming, track, golf…"

Emily's eyes lit up. "Golf?"

Rory nodded, glancing at Lorelai nervously. "Yeah."

"Well your grandfather is a golf player," Emily said enthusiastically, grinning as she turned to face Rory. She then turned to Richard, who looked just as shocked as Rory did.

"Um, Mom?" Lorelai started, coughing as she choked down some of her dessert. It was time for damage control. She was glad she had roped Luke into helping Rory learn to play baseball, but first she had to convince her parents that it was a genius idea like she thought it was.

Emily went on, seemingly uninterested in Lorelai's concerns. "He plays every week at the club. He could teach you to play like a pro."

Richard cringed. "Emily."

"Why, he could take you there on Sunday. It's perfect," Emily gushed, a grin forming on her face. Lorelai knew that Emily had a plan, an evil plan. It was a double-edged sword for Lorelai. She knew that she would be able to reject her mother's insistence that Rory learn to play golf. But at the same time she knew that she would have to explain that Rory already had someone lined up to help her learn to play a sport. That part could be dangerous.

"It's not something you can teach in an afternoon," Richard replied.

Lorelai nodded. "That's okay. Rory can pick something else," she said quickly, trying to drop the subject. She racked her brain for a new theme of discussion for the night. She was even willing to have the attention turned to her again; anything to spare Rory from the evil plan would be fine.

"Why should she pick something else?" Emily questioned sternly. "She needs to learn a sport and Richard can teach her a sport." She turned her attention to her granddaughter, folded her hands in her lap, and smiled. "You can use your mother's old golf clubs. They're upstairs gathering dust along with the rest of her potential."

Lorelai decided that it was time to explain Rory's choice to play baseball instead. "Mom, Dad, while we, uh, appreciate the offer, Rory's got lessons lined up to learn to play baseball."

"Baseball?" Emily replied, shocked. "What a barbaric sport! Rory could get seriously injured playing baseball! Wasn't there a player who was blinded by a baseball to the eye?"

"That won't happen to Rory," Lorelai said with a nod. "Honestly, Mom, we have it under control."

"And baseball is a boys' sport, Rory. Don't you want to try something that both men and women can play?" Emily continued, ignoring Lorelai's reassurances.

"Baseball and softball aren't that different, Emily," Richard pointed out. "If one can learn to hit a baseball, one can certainly learn to hit a softball. The rules of the game are quite similar. It's not a difficult concept."

"Yeah, Mom, Dad even said it. Rory will be fine," Lorelai said, quickly downing the rest of her dessert.

Emily put down her fork. "Honestly, Lorelai, how do you expect Rory to learn to play baseball in such a short period of time?"

"I got an extension," Rory said sheepishly, looking down at her empty dessert plate.

"She'll be fine. We'll practice with Luke a couple of times before she has to face the firing squad," Lorelai insisted. She could feel her own frustrations and tensions from a stressful day at work bubbling over, and if she wasn't careful, she was going to take it out on her parents.

"Who is Luke?"

She sighed. On second thought, taking it out on her parents didn't sound so bad. "Luke is the guy who owns the diner. He's a good guy, Mom. He's helped us a lot over the years. This is no different."

"I don't even know this man," Emily continued. "What makes you think that a random man off the street is going to know everything there is to know about baseball? Rory's future is at stake here!"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "He's well aware of that, Mom."

"Who's to say this man won't purposely teach Rory incorrectly?"

"Luke's not some vicious person who's looking for revenge," Lorelai shot back. "He's the guy who owns the diner we go to every morning, it's no big deal. He's doing us a huge favor."

"He owns a diner and that automatically makes him knowledgeable about baseball?"

Rory looked up from her plate. "He likes baseball."

"One can be a fan of a sport, but not an expert," Richard interjected. "But fans can also be experts."

Emily looked at Richard. "Whose side are you on?"

Richard pulled out his chair and stood up by the table. "Emily, I didn't see that there was a reason to choose a side. Rory is a bright young lady; she's extremely aware that this physical education requirement is in place for her benefit. And although she is not thrilled with the prospect of learning to play a sport, she has obviously enlisted the help of someone she trusts."

"You're obviously on their side," Emily muttered.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Mom, Luke will be the reason Rory passes this class, like it or not. May we be excused?"

"Have Mira get your coats," Emily replied curtly.

Lorelai put her napkin on the table and turned to Rory. "Hey, if you see _Sara_ in the hallway before I do, would you let her know that we're leaving?"

Rory nodded, walking out of the dining room. Lorelai pushed in her chair and followed closely behind. Her parents didn't understand her reasoning for asking Luke to assist Rory in the sports situation, but Rory was going to earn a passing grade in that class. Lorelai knew Luke was the only person capable of helping her to do so.


	3. The Windup

**A/N: Thanks for all your support on this story, thanks to everyone who organized the ficathon, and thanks to my beta R.M. Jackson for sending me home on the right train this weekend so I could write this and she could beta it. I want to just say that I am plowing my way through this fic, but I'm moving 950 miles away from home on Friday and I'll be on the road until Sunday night. The internet at my current home will be disconnected tomorrow and my new home's internet should be hooked up Monday. I'm almost done with this one and I'm HOPING I can get it posted by the deadline... we shall see. So, on with the chapter!**

* * *

It was a lazy Saturday morning. Lorelai saw the sun peeking through her curtains, but chose to go back to sleep. Her alarm clock would wake her up later. Did she even set it? Oh, well, no turning back now. She rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes. She had fallen asleep and was in the middle of a dream when Rory started calling her. "Mom!"

Lorelai groaned at the sound of Rory's voice from downstairs. She put her head underneath the pillow and tried to ignore her. It was definitely early in the morning, so why did she need to get up? She tried to think of a pressing matter that required her attention at such an early hour. She couldn't think of anything except meeting Luke at the practice field later in the day. She closed her eyes once again, pulling her head out from underneath the pillow.

"Seriously, Mom, we have to get ready!"

She mumbled something unintelligible as she opened one eye to look at the clock. The red numbers blurred together, and Lorelai decided to shut her eyes once more. After all, Rory was probably just getting antsy to practice. She pulled the covers up over her shoulders, shoved her arm underneath the pillow, and started to drift off once again.

Lorelai was almost asleep when she felt the sheets fly off of her. She shot up, bleary eyed, staring questioningly at the perpetrator. "God, Rory, I was trying to sleep! I was having a dream that the Bangles were in town and I got a backstage pass."

"You were trying to sleep at one in the afternoon?" Rory asked, crossing her arms.

Flopping back onto the pillows, Lorelai let out a groan. "Too early, give me the covers."

"Nope," Rory insisted. "Get up. We have to be at the field at two!"

"Why did I agree to this?" Lorelai asked, sitting up on the bed and stretching her arms above her head.

Rory plopped herself on the bed next to her mother, startling her out of her foggy state. "First of all, two is not too early. Second, you didn't agree to it, but you basically set yourself up for it. I mean, you asked Luke to help me. You think you wouldn't get involved somehow?"

"Well, golf is sounding better and better right about now. Mommy gets to sleep while Rory's mind is full of golf terminology," Lorelai said, lazily swinging a pillow in Rory's direction.

Rory giggled, taking the pillow from Lorelai's hands. "That was the most lifeless attempt at starting a pillow fight ever. Seriously, that was the worst first pillow swing I've seen in my entire life."

"You'd better hope that your baseball skills are better than my pillow fighting skills; you're getting graded on this," Lorelai pointed out as she pulled herself off the bed and trudged over to the dresser.

"I hope anything I do is better than your pillow fighting skills. That was pathetic. Sports and all competition aside, that was terrible."

"Rub it in some more, why don't you?"

"I will, thanks for the invitation," Rory said.

Lorelai reached into the dresser drawer and pulled out a red tank top with the tag still on it. She held it up for Rory to examine. She tossed it over to her daughter, and began the search for the rest of her outfit. "God, I need coffee to remember where I put this stupid thing."

"What stupid thing?" Rory asked, glancing at the tag attached to the tank top. "Whoa, there, woman. Five dollars? That's IT?"

"Clearance rack," Lorelai said with a smile. "And you'll see what I'm looking for when I find it."

Rory folded the tank top in her lap. "Seriously, Mom, what are you looking for?"

"Patience, grasshopper," Lorelai said, taking out shirt after shirt from the drawer and placing them on top of the dresser. Soon, the neat piles became messy mounds of clothes. She kicked the discarded shirts out of the way and sat on the floor, pulling out the bottom drawer. She dug through the folded piles of shirts and groaned. Finally, she squealed as she pulled out the missing item from the drawer.

"Did you find it?"

"No, I'm just a magician and I made this Red Sox jersey poof out of nowhere."

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Mom, that's like, three sizes too small."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "It is not," she said, retrieving the tank top from Rory's outstretched hand and walking over to her closet. "It's a size below what I'd normally get, but it was cheaper. It still fits."

"You're going to wear that? It's supposed to be freezing today," Rory said.

Shrugging, Lorelai pulled out a pair of jeans from the closet. "Oh well, we'll be working up a sweat when we're running and hitting and… doing other things that baseball players do?"

Rory slid off the bed and dodged the piles of clothes on the floor. "Whatever you say. When Luke asks you what the hell you're wearing, I'll let you take it away."

"Thank you, Mr. Blackwell, I'm so honored to make your 'worst dressed' list," Lorelai said, slipping into the bathroom. She shut the door and cringed when she looked at herself in the mirror. To look halfway decent, she'd need a cup of coffee. To look remotely awake, she'd need three. If she wanted to look amazing, she'd need a fifth cup. She slipped the tank top on and pulled the jersey over her shoulders. After putting on her jeans, brushing out her hair, and putting on some makeup, she deemed herself halfway decent without the coffee quota.

She slipped on a pair of red pumps, walked down the stairs, and breathed a sigh of relief. She could smell the coffee brewing, and it was perking her up. Reaching for a mug in the cabinet, she heard snickering behind her. Lorelai turned around to see Rory with her hand covering her mouth.

"I knew you were wearing that, but somehow the image couldn't form in my brain. Seeing it on you is… priceless," Rory teased.

"I look adorable," Lorelai said with a pout. "Why, do you think it's an ugly outfit? I think it's fantastic."

Rory motioned to Lorelai's jersey. "You look like you're trying to distract the baseball players, not blend in with them."

"Meaning?"

"What if a baseball hits you in the boob?"

Lorelai snorted. "Please. It's not that revealing. It's cute, I'm comfortable, and I look fantastic."

"Whatever you say," Rory said, a skeptical tone in her voice.

The coffee pot beeped and Lorelai reached for the pot as fast as she could. Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she grinned ear to ear at Rory's reaction. "I don't get why you're so bent out of shape about this outfit."

Rory rolled her eyes. "What, did I offend you, Sleeping Beauty?"

"Ooh, we're testy today, aren't we? Someone's got her panties in a twist, and it's certainly not me," Lorelai teased.

"Sorry, I'm just really nervous about this," Rory said, sitting at the kitchen table and wringing her hands together. "I mean, if I fail this class, it's kind of a big deal."

Lorelai took a sip of coffee and seated herself next to Rory. "If you screw up this little mini session, we'll get Mrs. Kim on the case."

Rory let out a small giggle and looked up at Lorelai. "Thanks," she said, smiling.

"You're welcome," Lorelai said, patting Rory's hand. "Let's head over to the field, shall we?"

Rory nodded. "We shall."

The two walked to the softball field in the surprisingly warm New England fall. Lorelai reveled in the inner glory of choosing a cute outfit while Rory ranted about what her future in sports would be like. Lorelai sipped the coffee in her to go mug as the two waited on the bleachers for Luke to show up. Lorelai was listening to Rory, who was in the middle of another rant, when she heard the chain link fence behind her rattle. She jumped, put her hand over her heart, and turned around. "God, Luke, you scared the hell out of me."

"You're late," he grumbled.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Can we get on with the show, please? I have to be at the inn today for the dress rehearsal of this stupid wedding."

"And you want to be at the inn for this 'stupid wedding'?" Luke asked.

Putting her travel mug beside her on the bleachers, Lorelai thought for a moment. "Okay, you've got a point there."

"You're going to run in those?" Luke asked, walking around the fence and pointing to Lorelai's shoes with his baseball bat outstretched.

"I'm a very gifted athlete," Lorelai replied, taking another sip of her coffee.

"Where's all the equipment?" Rory asked, interrupting the banter.

Luke pointed to the empty softball field. "I have it all set up out there. Get in the batter's box, and I'll show you the basics first."

Rory and Lorelai stared blankly at Luke. He took off his baseball cap, scratched his head, and put the cap back on, letting out a frustrated sigh. He gripped the baseball bat in his hands tighter as he stared back. "I forgot," he muttered. "You two know nothing about the sport. Follow me."

Lorelai clutched her coffee mug as she and Rory followed Luke to home plate. She watched as Luke kicked the dirt around for a few minutes, brushing his work boot across the plate until it was relatively clean. He handed Rory a baseball bat and dug his toe into the dirt.

"Housekeeping?" Lorelai teased.

Luke glared back at her. "I'm making the batter's box. When you go up to bat, you have to stay inside the batter's box until you hit the ball out there somewhere," he said, motioning to the empty field.

"Okay," Rory said, placing the bat on the ground and letting it lean against the side of her leg. It fell onto the ground and she sighed, leaning over to pick it up as Luke continued his home plate maintenance.

Lorelai laughed at the sight. Rory's bat wouldn't stay put, and Luke was a perfectionist when it came to the dirt around home plate. She leaned up against the fence and giggled as Luke snatched the baseball bat off the ground and stuck it in the fence, letting it hang by its handle.

"When you're not using the bat, keep it in there if you're not holding it," Luke insisted. "It's going to fall on your toe one day and it will hurt. It's a wood bat, you know."

Rory nodded. She watched intently as Luke finished kicking the dirt around. He motioned toward the fence and Rory retrieved the bat. She walked over to home plate and stepped inside the square Luke made around the plate.

"Get over here," Luke insisted, staring at Lorelai.

"I just got comfortable, too," she muttered, walking over to the plate.

Luke put his hands on Rory's shoulders, giving her a gentle push toward the plate. "Make sure your feet are shoulder width apart. But stay inside the batter's box here."

Rory attempted the stance, making Lorelai giggle. She shot Lorelai a glare, and looked to Luke for approval. "How's that?"

"Bring your feet in a little more," Luke instructed, nodding as Rory dragged her left foot closer to her right.

"Much better," Luke said. "Now the pitcher's going to be right there. See that giant circle right in front of you?"

Rory shook her head. "I see the bench," she said, staring directly in front of her.

"Turn your head when you're batting," Luke said. "No, don't move anything else, just your head. Look out there."

"Oh," Rory said, giggling slightly at her momentary misunderstanding. "Yeah, I see the circle."

"That's where the pitcher is going to be. They're going to throw the ball, and it's going to come over here in some general direction. Now you're going to want to swing at it if it's anywhere between your shoulders and your knees," he explained. "But only if it's over the plate."

"Over the plate, between the shoulders and the knees, got it."

"If the ball crosses the plate between here and here," Luke said touching his shoulder and his knee, "it's a strike. If it's anywhere else, like over your head, on the ground, or outside or inside the plate, that's called a ball."

"Is a ball good?" Rory asked. "Or is a strike good?"

"Balls are good," Luke started. He couldn't get a word in edgewise before Lorelai started hysterically laughing.

"Dirty," she squeaked, trying to catch her breath. "You… Luke… said… you… you said… that balls were good."

Luke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He turned to Rory, ignoring Lorelai's random outburst, and continued his explanation. "Balls are good…" Lorelai burst out laughing again, and Luke sighed. "Is there a time where I'm going to be able to say the word 'balls' today without you reading into it?"

She was laughing so hard that she couldn't finish her sentence. Luke turned his attention to Rory once again. Rory immediately stopped giggling, but failed to remain serious as she turned red and giggled some more.

"Both of you are hopeless," Luke insisted, shaking his head. "Balls are good, but strikes are good, too. It depends. If you're batting, balls are better than strikes. If you're in the field, you want strikes. If you swing and miss at a ball, it's a strike. If you swing, hit the ball, and it goes anywhere behind these white lines, then it's a strike."

"And it's three strikes and you're out?" Rory asked, collecting herself and clearing her throat. "I think?"

Luke shrugged. "Yes, and no. Yes, if you swing and miss. Yes, if you don't swing and it crossed the plate in between your shoulders and your knees. If you have two strikes, you swing, and you make contact, it has to be caught by the catcher in order for it to be an out."

"The catcher?" Rory asked.

Luke walked behind the plate. "The catcher crouches down behind the plate, right here. They catch the ball that the pitcher throws."

"So, only this person can catch the ball if she has two strikes?" Lorelai asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Yes, and no," Luke started.

"Wow, baseball is a game full of contradictions, isn't it?" Lorelai teased, sipping the last of her coffee. "All you keep saying is 'yes and no,' but it can't be both."

He sighed, crossing his arms and walking around the plate, taking his original spot back. "Well, it depends on the situation."

"So I guess this means I have a lot of catching up to do on these situations," Rory mused aloud, digging the end of the baseball bat in the dirt.

"It would be to your benefit," he said with a nod.

Lorelai nodded emphatically and smiled. "Yeah, you tell her, Luke."

"Are you the one learning here?" Luke asked.

"Well, I was knocked out, dragged here against my will, and tied up with duct tape and rope until you saved me from my cliché movie assailants," she answered. "In other words, yes, I am."

He threw his hands in the air out of frustration. "Follow me," he barked to Rory.

She dropped the baseball bat and jogged after Luke, who had gotten a head start in walking down to first base. Lorelai followed behind, walking toward the pair at her own pace. She continued walking until she saw Luke stop at a corner of the infield.

"So what's this?" Lorelai blurted out, looking at the dirt on the ground.

"This is first base. When you hit the ball, and it goes anywhere between this line, and this line, it's a fair ball," he explained, pointing to the white chalk line by his foot, and its counterpart across the field. "You have to put your bat down and run to first base."

Lorelai nodded. "And I'm guessing that's second, third, and fourth?"

"There is no fourth," Luke answered.

"Why?"

"It's called home plate."

"Why not fourth?"

"Because you start and end there, so it's home."

Lorelai groaned. "But why can't they call it first-slash-fifth?"

"Because normal people would be confused by your screwed up logic," Luke shot back, obviously irritated. "Home, first, second, third, home. That's how it goes, that's what we're calling them, and if you give them names, I'm going to drive you home and teach Rory what she needs to know."

"Fine," Lorelai said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. "I won't try to make a boring sport amusing at all."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Rory, if you're at bat and you hit the ball between those lines, you run to first. If one of the guys in the field throws it to the person standing here, and they get it here before you do, then you're out."

"Of the game?"

"No, not of the game, just for that particular at bat," Luke said. "But if you make it there before, you're safe. And you stay on first base until someone else hits the ball."

"I have a question," Lorelai said, raising her hand.

"What now?" Luke barked.

"What happens if the players get hungry while they're, say, practicing, or playing the game, or what if they have to, you know, use the bathroom?"

"Are you hinting at something?"

"Maybe," she said with a smile.

"You seriously didn't use the bathroom before you left the house?"

She shrugged. "My mother never taught me that, and I switched nannies so often they weren't sure what I had and hadn't learned…"

"Oh, for the love of God, let's go to the diner so I can feed you and shut you up," Luke said, gathering any equipment that was lying around and putting it in the back of his truck.

"Are you my chauffeur? If you are, can you roll down the windows so I can stick my head out and wave to my adoring fans? They haven't seen me in awhile," Lorelai said.

Luke shook his head. "Nope, we're walking. "

"Darn," Lorelai said, turning to Rory. "I thought I had him fooled."

"So, Rory, if you hit the ball farther than the dirt, and it gets on the grass, sometimes you can run farther than just first base. There's going to be a coach there who will tell you what to do. Just make sure you listen to them," Luke said, choosing to ignore Lorelai and continue the educational part of the day.

Rory nodded. "Okay. So, what happens next? I get the really basic idea."

"Uh, well, I guess you take some batting practice," Luke said. "I mean, unless you have another idea."

Rory shook her head. "No, you're the expert," she said. "Whatever you think is best is fine with me."

Lorelai walked faster, trying to catch up with Rory and Luke. Her heels were preventing her from running, but she was able to squeeze her way in between the two. "Hey, what am I, chopped liver?"

"Last time I checked, Rory's the one who's getting graded on this assignment," Luke insisted.

She nodded. "You have a point, there, but I'm wondering what I can do to help."

"Well, that's the most useful thing you've said since we got to the field."

"That's me, lending a helping hand to all who need it," Lorelai said.

Luke rolled his eyes and opened the door to the diner. "We'll figure out something for you to do."

Lorelai clapped her hands together in excitement, following Luke into the diner. She cringed when she saw the amount of people waiting to be served. Looking around for a table, she sighed. They would have to wait a long time before they were even thought of.

As Luke disappeared into the kitchen, Lorelai turned to her daughter. "So what do you think of the baseball thing so far?"

"It's okay," Rory said softly, taking off her old sweatshirt and folding it up in her hands as she moved away from the door.

"Sounds complicated to me," Lorelai continued.

Rory shrugged. "I guess so."

"Hey, you're sour grapes today, what's going on?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine."

"Okay, then," Lorelai said under her breath. "If you see a table, just run for it."

"I will," Rory replied.

Luke came up behind Lorelai, startling her as he put his hand on her shoulder to gently push her out of the way. She shivered. He had nice, strong hands. She'd never noticed his hands before then. Why was that?

She rolled her eyes at herself. She was being stupid. So, Luke had nice hands. Big deal. She turned to face him and watched as he carried several coffee mugs and a coffee pot in his hands. "That's exactly what I need," she said, smiling as she watched him pour her beloved coffee for several customers.

Lorelai listened to a conversation going on nearby about how long it was taking for the food to be served. She nonchalantly turned, trying not to act like she was obviously listening in. She caught only bits and pieces of the conversation, but what she did hear was that the people were angry that their food still hadn't been served.

"Look," Luke said, walking behind the counter as he addressed Lorelai and Rory. "I'm going to have to cut the lesson short for today, is that okay? It was cooling down anyway and I think it was supposed to rain. Can we pick it up tomorrow afternoon?"

Rory nodded. "No problem."

"I'm really sorry, I just don't want Taylor giving me hell at the next town meeting for not being around to check up on the diner. He makes me want to wring his neck as it is."

"Yeah, sure, we'll see you tomorrow," Lorelai said, turning to the door and walking out of the diner. She shivered as the wind blew outside. Luke was right; it had gotten about ten degrees cooler in the short time between their on the field lesson and the trip back home.

"Sucks that Luke's was so busy," Rory said as the two started the walk back. "They all looked upset, and Luke looked frazzled."

"It was really busy today," Lorelai agreed. "I wonder what good food and coffee we're missing. Woe is me, I didn't get a seat and I'm missing what everyone else so clearly enjoying."

"You'll survive."

"Yeah, right."

"I'll bet they told Gloria Gaynor the same thing, and when she finally realized it, she decided to give the same advice to everyone else," Rory insisted, pulling at the zipper on her sweatshirt.

"I should have told Luke to meet us at four tomorrow," Lorelai groaned.

"Again, Gloria Gaynor has some great advice for you, I'd listen to her," Rory said, walking up the porch stairs to the door of the Crap Shack. "I'm going to change."

Lorelai pouted. "I'll bet if she tasted Luke's coffee she'd change her tune."


	4. The Pitch

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for their patience on this fic. It's been a super stressful time for me lately, as I just moved to Tennessee. My muse went into hiding for awhile, and we didn't have internet for awhile, but now I'm back! Thanks to R.M. Jackson for complimenting my polka dotted shower curtains enough times to make me feel better so I could write this. Oh, yeah, and she was a pretty awesome beta, too. I don't own any dialogue from "Kill Me Now" that's used here. Keep reading, one more chapter until the moment a lot of you are waiting for!**

* * *

Lorelai slipped out of her practice attire and into a t-shirt and sweatpants. She hadn't attempted any physical activity, but her brain was exhausted. She walked downstairs, grabbed a magazine, and headed for the porch. The rain had stopped and Lorelai grinned as she stepped outside. The one smell she loved besides the smell of coffee and the smell of snow was the smell right after it rained. Rory was already on the porch, totally engrossed in a book.

"Did you clear out the room in your brain for that? Because someday I worry that you're going to run out of space up there with everything you're learning. You just had this really intense baseball lesson and now here you are, shoving more knowledge into that pretty little head of yours. I fear that someday it will explode and I'll be wondering how to get Rory gunk off the floor," she teased, sitting across from Rory on the porch.

Rory smiled. "I took all the steps necessary to prevent an explosion. I got rid of all my files that contain anything related to you and gifts you want for holidays and birthdays."

"You wouldn't," Lorelai gasped.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," Rory said, opening her book and turning her attention to the marked page.

Lorelai turned her attention to the magazine and thought back to earlier in the day when she and Rory were on the field. Rory seemed nervous or upset about something. Was it her outfit? Lorelai recalled some tension earlier in the day regarding the choice of clothing. Taking a deep breath, she absently flipped through the magazine until she looked up at Rory. She was determined to figure out what was wrong. "Is everything okay with you?"

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Lorelai shrugged. "You just seem upset about this whole sports thing. Are you sure you're okay? If you're not…"

"I'm fine," Rory replied defensively. "Why do you keep asking me if I'm okay?"

"You just seem upset, that's all," Lorelai explained. "I was concerned."

Rory looked up from her book, glaring at Lorelai. "I said I was fine, can we drop it?"

"Okay, fine. Is that my sweater?"

"What?"

"You're wearing my sweater," Lorelai said, motioning to the sweater Rory had changed into.

"So?" Rory retorted, her teeth clenched in anger and frustration.

"No, it's okay. It's just I thought I asked you to at least ask, you know, before you borrow my stuff," Lorelai reasoned. She was already agitated that Rory wasn't spilling what was bothering her, and the opportune time to bring up all the rest of her annoyances had come.

"I'm sorry," Rory apologized.

Lorelai could sense her confusion. She could tell that Rory was trying her hardest not to go on with the fight. Regardless, Lorelai wanted to make her point. "It's okay. It's just not too much for a simple 'Can I borrow it, Mom?' is it?"

"No, it's not. Jeez, lighten up," Rory shot back. She went back to her book, trying not to be affected by the argument.

"It's my favorite sweater, too."

Rory snorted. "Since when?"

"Since always," Lorelai replied quickly. It really was her favorite sweater… sort of. Sometimes. It was a nice sweater.

Rory shook her head and crossed her arms. "This is not your favorite sweater."

"Yes it is, and now it's going to be all stretched out just like everything else you borrow."

"What are you talking about?" Rory questioned, her tone becoming slightly less calm and more defensive.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. She could feel the tension building and she wasn't holding back now. She hated arguing with Rory, but she was already going. There was no stopping her. She wanted Rory to see her side of the story, and she didn't care how she had to get it through Rory's head. "I'm talking about that you take my sweaters and you wear them and you stretch them out."

Rory shook her head. "I couldn't possibly stretch them out! Your boobs are way bigger than mine."

"That is not true," Lorelai gasped.

"Yes it is."

"Your boobs are totally bigger than mine!" Lorelai insisted.

"You're crazy!"

"Do you want to measure?" Lorelai quipped.

Rory paused for a moment, taking in what her mother just said. "What?"

"I'm serious. Why don't you get the measuring tape right now?"

"I am not going to measure my boobs," Rory replied, standing up from her seat.

"Because you know that you are totally bigger," Lorelai added.

Rory rolled her eyes and picked up her book. She pushed in the chair on the porch and headed for the door. "I'm going inside."

Lorelai threw her hands in the air. "Fine, don't measure. We'll just compare bras."

"Stop it!" Rory cried, turning around to make sure Lorelai got the point.

"I'll stop when you quit stealing my stuff."

"You're cracked!" Rory yelled.

Lorelai had no response. "You're...bigger," she spat out, watching Rory angrily walk away. She could feel the anger in the pit of her stomach. She put her head in her hands and let out a groan of frustration, trying to figure out what caused the stupid fight they just had. There was only one conclusion she could come to.

* * *

"So to sum it all up, it was a nothing fight," Lorelai said the next afternoon at the softball field. Rory was uncharacteristically late for practice, and Lorelai had just finished explaining her theory behind Rory's conspicuous absence to Luke.

"A nothing fight?" he repeated, gripping the bat in his hands and taking a few gentle swings at nothing in particular.

Lorelai sighed. "A nothing fight is when you and the person you're fighting with are getting along fine. Then suddenly someone takes what someone said the wrong way. Then you feel the urge to nitpick. And boom. You've got yourself a nothing fight."

"How is it a nothing fight? You fight about something, it can't be just for the sake of fighting," he insisted, putting the bat down and walking over to the empty bleachers.

"Of course you don't fight just to fight," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes, following him and taking a seat next to him. "You fight because you're stressed, or tired, or angry at someone else. You have nothing against the person you fought with, really, they're just the person you took it out on."

"So could you explain what happened for you to have this so called 'nothing fight' with Rory?"

"Nothing," Lorelai said, taking a sip of the coffee Luke had brought for her. "Absolutely nothing, I can't figure it out. I tried to ask if she was okay, and the next minute we're arguing about who has bigger boobs."

Luke blushed. "Ah, jeez," he grumbled as he took off his baseball cap and scratched his head. "How can nothing happen to cause a 'nothing fight' that has to be caused by something?"

"My thoughts exactly."

"This is hurting my brain," he grumbled.

She smiled as he rolled his eyes. Taking another sip of coffee, she wondered if Rory would ever show up. Sure, Rory was angry with her, but was skipping out on a lesson the way to pay her back? Lorelai shook her head. Surely Rory left her a note somewhere that she missed, or something. Had she already contacted Luke? No, he would have said something. Where was she? Did she have to do something at school? Was there a test? A paper?

Lorelai suddenly felt the need to defend Rory. As angry as she was about the stupid nothing fight, it was completely unlike Rory to not show up somewhere that she was supposed to be. "I'm sorry, about this. You know Rory isn't usually late for something without calling or leaving a note."

He shrugged. "It's fine. I have all day."

"No, you don't have all day. You have a business to run. We can't just sit here all day and wait for her to show up. It's like waiting up for the ball to drop in New York City for the first time as a kid. You watch Dick Clark all night, waiting for this giant glass ball to drop, and you realize at 11:59 that it's sliding down a pole, and it won't break," Lorelai continued.

"That had to be one of the strangest metaphors I've ever heard," he said.

"I'm impatient. I'm running out of brain power to think of any good ones."

"She'll be here."

Lorelai took the last sip of coffee and reached for the to go cup that Luke brought for Rory. "Well, since she's not here now, she forfeits all coffee rights."

"You don't need two cups of coffee to focus today. And aren't you freezing?"

"I wore this yesterday and I wasn't freezing," Lorelai replied, downing some of Rory's coffee.

Luke got off the bleachers. He walked around the fence and picked up his baseball glove. "Get off the bench."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. She took another sip of coffee and crossed her legs, giggling as Luke walked toward the field by himself. She wondered how long it would take him to realize that she wasn't following him.

"Lorelai!"

She put down the coffee cup and made her way toward the field, putting her hands in the pockets of her jeans. She shivered as the wind picked up. It really was cooler than she had anticipated. She met Luke next to home plate and stood beside him, rocking back and forth on her red heels. "Rory's not here yet."

"I'm aware of that," he muttered, putting his hands on Lorelai's shoulders and gently shoving her toward home plate.

"What are you doing? If you're trying to prove that you have super strength, I wouldn't push me around, but maybe a giant boulder or something."

Luke crossed his arms. "You asked a lot of questions yesterday. I figured you were interested in learning too. If you aren't, we can go back to the bleachers and stare at each other until Rory shows up."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay, count me in. I'm ready." She walked over to the fence and grabbed a baseball bat. She stood beside the plate, trying to grip the bat while Luke kicked the dirt around. Watching Luke's specific dirt routine bored Lorelai, so she put the handle of the bat on her chin and attempted to balance it. She groaned and began to run backwards as it toppled over and hit her nose on the way down. "Ow."

"Did you break your ankle?"

"Ha, ha," she retorted, leaning over and retrieving the baseball bat. "I tried to balance it on my chin and it hit the bridge of my nose. Is it a Marcia Brady shade of purple? It has to be, because I swear, it's increasing in size by the millisecond."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You're not bleeding, your nose is not swollen, and you're overreacting. Rule number one, do not attempt to balance the baseball bat in any way."

"Rules are meant to be broken," Lorelai said, holding out her palm and placing the end of the bat there to balance.

Before she could attempt the same stunt again, Luke took the bat from Lorelai's hands, using the handle to draw the lines for the batter's box. "I'll take that."

"You may leave when you snatch the bat from my hands, grasshopper," Lorelai giggled.

"Are you finished?"

She shrugged, wiping her hands on her jeans. "For now. I can't guarantee that I will be for the rest of the day, but for now, sure."

"If you want to learn to play, you're finished," Luke insisted. "Come over here."

Lorelai stood inside the dirt lines that Luke had drawn. She held the bat in her hands, turning to Luke for further instruction. "Am I even in the right spot?"

He shook his head. "You're not even on a side."

"Where am I supposed to be?"

"For starters, you need to be on the side of the plate, not on top of it," Luke explained.

He put his hands on her waist, pulling her toward the side of the plate she was supposed to be on. She giggled and playfully swatted his hands away. "Okay, mister, you were headed for second base there."

"Excuse me?"

"You were totally touching my butt."

"I was not," Luke protested.

"You were, too."

"Okay, enough of the arguing," he insisted, getting defensive and turning red. "Spread your legs."

Lorelai snorted. "You don't expect me to drop the subject after that comment, do you?"

Luke stopped for a moment, staring at Lorelai and taking a deep breath. "Jeez, Lorelai, will you just concentrate on the game?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"I can leave anytime, you know."

"Fine," she pouted, making sure her legs were in the right place. She tried several different stances until she finally got comfortable, grabbing the baseball bat and resting it on her shoulder. "Now what do I do?"

"Your legs need to be shoulder width apart," Luke said. "Your heels are together."

Lorelai groaned, trying to stand in a comfortable spot. "Any better?"

"Okay," Luke said. "That's not as bad as it could be. Now choke up on the bat."

"Huh?" Lorelai asked, raising an eyebrow at Luke.

He stood behind her, reaching over her shoulders and moving her hands until they were in the right spot. "Hold the bat tighter."

Lorelai squeezed the bat until her knuckles turned white. She turned her head to look at Luke. "That hurts my hands."

"Probably because you're literally choking the bat," Luke pointed out. "Loosen up your grip."

She loosened her grip on the bat and turned to face Luke. "Better?"

He sighed, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face the plate. "You got that part right, but screwed everything else up in the process."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're extremely encouraging? That positive attitude is going to get you so far in life," she teased, grinning as she repositioned herself in the batter's box.

"Do you want to try to hit something?"

"As long as I can borrow this to perfect my balancing act. Soon, I'll have those china plates my mother gave me for my birthday last year spinning on top of this baseball bat, and I'll give you a front row seat when the travelling circus I join goes to Hartford."

"I think I'll pass on that," Luke grumbled.

She rolled her eyes. "I get it. You were one of those kids who somehow lost his cotton candy to the elephant at the circus."

"Nope."

"What's your aversion to the circus, then?"

"Again, I can leave at any time."

"Tell me what's wrong with the circus and you'll have my full attention," Lorelai promised.

"The circus is full of freaks, end of discussion."

"Well, jeez, that's quite the stereotype. What on earth makes you think that the circus is full of freaks?"

Luke pressed down on the bill of his baseball cap. "I was four. My mom took me to the circus and there was a clown on a unicycle waiting out front. He put me on his shoulders and we rode around for a second before he fell and I fell along with him. Broke my arm."

"Oh, my God!"

"He was wasted."

"And no one noticed this before you got on his shoulders and took a brief joyride before plummeting to your… I was going to say death, but I can't think of anything else that sounds as dramatic."

"Are you finished?" he asked.

"Am I standing in the right direction?"

"More or less," Luke said with a sigh. "Do you want to take a few swings?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Rory didn't even get to do that."

Luke grabbed a bucket of softballs and dragged them toward the pitcher's mound. "She's learning all the rules and the technical stuff. You're just really fascinated with the bat."

"Are you insulting Barry?"

"Barry who?"

"The bat, his name is Barry. Would you please stop insulting him? He and I have a special bond, even though he tried to break my nose," she teased.

He carried the bucket of softballs to about twenty feet away from the plate. He reached in and picked one up, holding it out for Lorelai to see. "I'm going to pitch it underhand."

"Is that good or bad? And why are you so close to me? Shouldn't you stand somewhere out there in Egypt to make it really difficult for me?"

"I'm trying to make it easy for you to hit. If I didn't, all I would hear for the next hour is how hard the game is. Then you'd start whining about how I have to take your shoes and your outfit into consideration, and you just feel so inadequate because you can't hit the baseball and Barry can't do his job. Then you'll tell me this story about how Barry feels unloved, unappreciated, and lonely, and all he wanted to do was his job."

"That's quite a point you make. It was slightly embellished for your own selfish purposes, but you have a point with the rest of it," she said, raising her eyebrows. "That was a little creepy."

"I've known you long enough to know that when you name an inanimate object, it comes with a life history as well," Luke said. "Ready to try?"

"Don't make it go too fast. I have visions of this softball coming at me with a tail of fire swooshing behind it. I run away, fearing that I have to attempt the stop, drop, and roll that I'd avoided doing in those stupid school safety drills every year since kindergarten. Then you feel terrible because I have an imprint of the stitches in that stupid thing on my leg. I'll feel like a branded cow."

"Rest assured, the scenario you just concocted is virtually impossible," he said dryly.

Lorelai cringed. She could tell his patience was diminishing, so she nodded and took a deep breath, kicking around in the dirt before resuming her stance. "I think my footing's screwed up again," she groaned, looking down at her feet. "And I have my heel stuck in the stupid dirt."

Luke walked over to Lorelai, putting his hands on her waist again and gently directing her away from the plate. "You can't get so close to the plate."

"And you can't get so close to my ass," she teased.

"I'm trying to make sure you're in the right spot, for the love of God! You said your footing was messed up, and here I am, attempting to help you correct the problem. I am not trying to touch your ass!"

She giggled. "I'm just teasing you. You're awfully defensive today. Go throw me a pitch."

Luke rolled his eyes, walking back to the mound. He reached in the bucket and pulled out a softball, gently tossing it underhand. Lorelai violently swung the bat, cringing as the ball sailed past her and the bat flew toward the fence. She ducked, holding her hands over her head to ensure that she didn't get hit. Standing there for a moment with her hands over her head, she watched as Luke came over from the pitcher's mound.

"I'm guessing that wasn't right," Lorelai said, straightening up and looking around cautiously to make sure she wouldn't get hit by any more falling objects.

"Not even close," Luke replied.

The two walked toward the plate once again. Luke put his hands on Lorelai's shoulders and she said nothing. He was going to be no fun if he had to continue to defend himself over his touchy feely moments. She sighed. Shivering as he put his hands on her waist again, she tried not to giggle. It got less awkward each time he put his hands on her.

A part of her felt silly for calling him out, but another part of her suspected that he was really trying something. She allowed him to help her get settled in the batter's box once more. Just as he put his hands on her hips again, directing her toward the right, Rory approached the pair by the plate, clearing her throat as though to announce her presence.

Luke quickly dropped his hands and Lorelai turned around. She walked out of the dirt square and handed Rory the bat. "Take good care of Barry. I'll, uh, see you at home."

"You're leaving?" Luke asked.

She shrugged. "I have some stuff to do."

"Stuff?"

"You know, inn stuff. Thanks for teaching me how to swing the bat. Rory needs a turn now. She's the one getting graded, after all. I'll see you in the diner… tomorrow?"

"We… open at five," Luke said, sounding completely confused.

Lorelai grabbed the once abandoned cup of coffee and walked out of the baseball field, leaving Luke and Rory to practice.


	5. Home Run

**A/N: I want to thank all of you for your patience on this fic. I went through a really rough patch in real life for awhile and I wasn't in a good state of mind to update this fic. It had to take a backseat to what was going on and I'm sorry that I kept everyone hanging. The real thanks go to every single person who I asked about this fic, complained about how it wasn't working to, and the people who beta-ed it. Special shout out to R.M. Jackson for deciding to beta me to begin with, and to tracyEXPLOSION, flashforeward, and maryilee for letting me run random sentences past them. A super big thank you to Filo for really encouraging me to post my 'smut lite'. I can't say I'll write another just yet, but with her encouragement and kindness, I haven't written it off. Finally, finally, I present to you, the last chapter of the fic.**

* * *

The sound Lorelai's red pumps made as she walked seemed to quicken the pace of her heart with each step. Luke was a guy; a guy wouldn't accidentally put his hands on a girl's hips and then turn bright red after a simple inquiry as to why he did it. Lorelai couldn't help but wonder what his motives were. After all, it could have been a subtle move that he was trying to make. She wasn't one to turn down one of those. She stopped at the third stair and adjusted her jersey. She brushed a hair off the white sleeve and buttoned one single button right below her breasts.

Lorelai gently rapped on the doorframe to Luke's apartment. She'd never been inside before, but she needed to make sure that he knew that she was thankful for what he did for Rory. The door was open, and she peeked inside to see Luke on the couch watching the baseball game.

"You're not sick of baseball for the day?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged. "Nah. It's kind of something you don't get sick of."

"Well," she said, inviting herself into the apartment. "That's good. I just, uh, came by to thank you for all the help you gave Rory. She's home watching the game now."

Luke raised his eyebrow. "Are you two talking again?"

"You would consider it talking, it's a lot of grunting," she shrugged.

"Rory's watching the game?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. And she's taking notes."

"Taking notes?" he repeated.

"It's Rory," Lorelai said, taking a seat next to Luke on the couch. She slipped out of her pumps and placed her feet on top of the now empty shoes. Her toes were perfectly manicured to look like baseballs; she had almost forgotten that she spent all of that time on them. As Luke saw Lorelai making herself comfortable, he groaned.

"I swore you'd break an ankle in those today," Luke insisted, pointing to the discarded shoes on the floor.

She shrugged. "I made sure that there wasn't any running involved, so I took the necessary precautions."

He rolled his eyes. "Rory dressed properly, at least."

"She told me to change, but I figured I'd be more of the Geena Davis in 'A League of Their Own' type baseball player. Good, but still sexy at the same time."

Luke snorted. "She was a lot more covered up than you were today, that's for sure."

Lorelai didn't know whether to laugh or to defend herself. She looked down at her jean Capri pants and her baseball toes. The red pumps may have been a bit much, but regardless, she had covered herself up pretty nicely. She looked at Luke and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please, you were going for second base when you were trying to show me how my hips were supposed to be in relation to the pitcher."

Luke turned red once again. "I was not, and I thought you would have forgotten all of the information by now."

Lorelai snorted. "Baseball has to be the sport with the dirtiest metaphors, so I was obligated to pay attention. Besides, the meanings of the 'bases' are kind of culturally accepted. Were you going for second base?"

"So what if I was? You were dressed… like you were dressed. And we had that, you know, moment in the diner."

"Moment? I don't recall a moment."

"You said I looked nice. When I made the crack about liking collars," Luke reminded her.

Lorelai sat for a moment, closing her eyes tight and willing the embarrassment she felt to go away. She remembered the moment. She wasn't sure if he was thinking of the same one, but, of course, he was. She opened her eyes. For a few seconds, nothing came out. She felt like she couldn't say anything that wouldn't embarrass her more or hurt Luke unintentionally.

Why had she shoved all the 'moments' over the years in the back of her mind? She recognized each one, processed it, mulled it over for a few days, and finally just let each one blow over. Why did she do that? And it took a school assignment for Rory to make Lorelai think something of the moments again? She looked down at her toes. She was completely embarrassed and stunned. "Luke, I…"

"I figured… I don't know, I guess I thought that you felt the same way," he protested. "But if you don't feel the same way…"

Running her hands through her dark curly hair, she took a deep breath. All those times she wondered if he liked her as more than a friend, all those times other people had tried to convince her that he was in love with her… everyone was right. She crossed her legs. Lorelai knew it was time to deny the denial. It sounded confusing, but at that moment, she knew it was so simple. "I'd have let you get to second base," she said with a grin.

"What?"

Lorelai watched him take it all in for a moment, giggling at the slightly confused and slightly shocked expression on his face. Something inside her told her to take it up a notch. She had made him wait quite awhile with her denial, so she owed him. She scooted over on the couch, straddling Luke's legs by pressing her knees into the couch cushion. Leaning in slowly, she pressed her lips softly against his. Part of her was surprised by her boldness. After realizing that this kiss wasn't at all awkward, Lorelai allowed her tongue to slip in and make contact with his as she lowered her bottom onto Luke's knees. She pulled back, catching a glimpse of Luke's surprised reaction then leaned over and nibbled Luke's earlobe. "First base," she whispered, taking off Luke's baseball cap and tossing it behind her. Lorelai leaned back and gave him a devilish grin as she ran her hands through his thick brown hair. "First base coach is waving you on, Luke."

Lorelai giggled as she looked into Luke's blue eyes. There was more than a hint of desire present there.

"Someone learned something out of all of this," Luke replied in a hoarse voice. He leaned forward and kissed Lorelai, grabbing her backside and holding it to make sure that she didn't fall off of his lap as he pulled her closer. He was amazed at how right the kiss felt. Luke deepened the kiss when he recognized the taste of coffee on her lips, slipping his tongue into her mouth.

Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's neck and broke the kiss when she realized that Luke was toying with the button on her jersey. She unlaced her fingers and allowed Luke to unbutton the shirt and gently push it off her shoulders, exposing the red tank top. He reached up into her tank top, up through her shelf bra, and brushed his thumb against her nipple. Lorelai moaned as she scooted closer to Luke's waist. The hardness in his jeans made it obvious that he was looking for more than just second base.

She reached for his blue flannel shirt, resisting the urge to pull it off and send the buttons flying everywhere. Instead, she systematically unbuttoned the garment before removing it and tossing it aside. She paused for a moment to take in the sight of Luke in just a t-shirt. Luke was a man of mystery no more. Tugging at the end of Luke's t-shirt and pulling it over his head, Lorelai took a deep breath as she caught sight of Luke's toned muscles and ran her hands across his muscular chest.

"Crap," Luke muttered under his breath.

"I've got it taken care of if you don't. I'm… you know, on the pill," Lorelai said, putting her hands gently on Luke's face and leaning in for a kiss. He leaned forward and Lorelai interlaced her fingers around his neck once more. As she saw Luke standing up, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"That's good," Luke panted as he walked toward the door and kicked it shut. "But _that's_ what I was referring to."

She let out a laugh and pressed soft kisses to Luke's jaw line as he walked them toward his bed. He slowly sat down, ensuring that Lorelai was still straddling him. He reached for the button of her pants, and then the zipper, pushing the denim down and exposing her red lace panties. She lifted each knee, slowly dragging her pants down each leg until they were kicked across the floor. Lorelai reached for Luke's belt, undoing the buckle and quickly dragging it out of the belt loops. She tossed it aside and reached for the button on Luke's blue jeans.

"I'm guessing this means that I can keep going to third base, then," Luke teased, running his fingers across the elastic on her panties.

"God, yes," she moaned, tugging at Luke's jeans.

He assisted in the swift removal of his pants and his hands made their way to the hem of Lorelai's tank top. He pulled it over Lorelai's head and dropped it beside him. Lorelai attempted to pull at the waistband of Luke's underwear, but lost all mobility as Luke moved his hands to her panties. She tilted her head back and bit her lip as he reached inside the fabric. He slowly pushed his finger inside her, letting out a groan as she traced circles around his spine with her fingernails.

Luke inserted a second finger, watching as Lorelai shivered from the sensation.

"You're not stopping with just a triple, are you?"

He removed his fingers and quickly discarded his underwear. Lorelai rolled over, allowing Luke to tug at her panties and slide them down. She lifted her bottom, allowing him to completely remove them. "Lorelai," he moaned.

"All the way," she replied. "Don't… stop with just a triple."

"You really were paying attention today," he panted, thrusting into her as she arched up and met his hips.

As their pace quickened, Lorelai gasped for air. She could say nothing for a time before she finally heard a moan escape from her lips. "Luke," she said breathlessly as she grabbed the top end of the mattress for support. She finally let go, raking her fingernails down Luke's back. "Going… going… goooooone," Lorelai moaned as she took in the feeling of their simultaneous climaxes.

He stayed there for a moment, taking in what had just happened. He watched as Lorelai gave him a grin of satisfaction, then leaned in to kiss her before he rolled over to the other side of the bed. She grinned, sliding closer to Luke and allowing him to wrap his arm around her. "Wow," she said, giggling. "I schooled you in the other way to run the bases."

"Your terminology was a bit off, but I suppose I'll let it pass because of the other stuff," he said, running his fingertips up and down her arm.

She playfully slapped his bicep. "What do you mean, my terminology was off?"

"You can't say 'going, going, gone' if you're already running the bases," he replied.

Lorelai closed her eyes and let out a soft moan. "Whatever you say. If Rory passes gym this semester, I may have to ask you to help out more often. Then again, the helping led to this, so I may have to ask you for assistance much more than you'll ever realize," she said with a wink.

"If you insist," he said.

--

Lorelai arrived home later that night. The scent of buttered popcorn and chocolate chip cookies filled the air as she walked through the door. Taking off her shoes and walking into the living room, she found Rory cross-legged on the couch, an oversized popcorn bowl in her lap and the remote in her hand. She watched as Rory mindlessly flipped through the channels.

"Anything good on?" Lorelai asked.

Rory turned to face Lorelai. She turned off the TV, grabbed the bowl, and started for the stairs. It was clear that Rory wasn't in the mood to talk. Lorelai sighed. Who could blame her? Rory knew that Lorelai had started a dumb fight for no reason just as well as Lorelai did. Plopping down on the couch, Lorelai instinctively reached for the remote Rory had abandoned. After three cycles through the channels, Lorelai finally settled on a mockable Lifetime movie. Five minutes passed before she reached for the phone on the coffee table.

She carefully dialed the familiar number and was greeted by Sookie's chirpy, outgoing voicemail message. Frustrated, she pressed the 'end call' button and tossed the phone beside her on the couch. Sookie wasn't around, Rory wasn't talking to her, and she had no one to share the good news with. She turned off the television, turned it back on, and flipped through the channels once more, hoping that something worthy of watching would come on.

The fact that the big wedding for the bratty twins was the next day escaped her mind as the Red Sox game appeared on the screen. Lorelai smiled. Her mind immediately went to Luke, and the night they had at his apartment. She stared at the screen for a few moments before reaching for the telephone again, this time dialing a new number.

"Whoever you are, call back at a decent hour," the grumpy and groggy voice demanded from the other line.

"How do you go to bed when the game is in the fourteenth inning?" Lorelai asked.

Luke groaned. "It's the fourteenth inning?"

"That's what the guy said," Lorelai confirmed.

"I swear, it's the longest game in the history of the world," Luke muttered.

She smiled. He was totally out of it, and it was cute. Reaching over and picking up Rory's abandoned notebook, she flipped through the pages and came across a highlighted line of notes. "Actually, the longest game ever to be played with an actual winner lasted 25 innings."

"You're looking at Rory's notes," he said, the tone in his voice becoming more and more aware of what Lorelai was saying.

"Nothing gets past you," she giggled.

"Don't you have to get up early tomorrow?"

Lorelai groaned. "It's torture. Might as well tie me to a chair and make me listen to a never-ending loop of 'the song that gets on everybody's nerves.' I'd be happier."

"Some of us have to get up every day, earlier than the time that you have to get up tomorrow, to make a living."

"The great Oz has woken," Lorelai teased. "I liked sleepy Luke a little better."

"You're the one that woke me up in the first place," he deadpanned.

She closed Rory's notebook and placed it on the coffee table. "True. I just wanted to… call you, and uh… well, I'm not really sure why I called you."

"You don't have anyone to spill this to, that's why you called me. I'm no dummy," Luke replied.

Lorelai snapped her fingers. "Your alertness is making the conversation less fun and sweet like it was when you first woke up."

"Good night, Lorelai," Luke said.

She smiled. "Good night, Luke."

--

Lorelai's alarm buzzed the next morning and she frantically tried to get ready for the wedding. Rory had confiscated all of the jewelry she had planned to wear in the aftermath of their argument, a customary gesture to show that she was still angry and not backing down. After she deemed her appearance presentable, she waited for Rory in the Jeep. Rory was mad, but Lorelai knew she wouldn't back down on a responsibility.

After they arrived, Lorelai walked around the inn aimlessly, almost hoping someone would pull her aside and complain about something. But, somehow, everything seemed to be running smoothly. After all the hype, all the drama, and all the fights, the wedding was going extremely well. After the previous night with Luke, she was itching to talk to Rory about it. Well, sparing the details, but she wanted to tell someone.

She'd thought about it after she got home, but judging by Rory's lack of hesitation to leave the living room as she walked in the door told Lorelai that it wasn't the time to reconcile. That night was like torture for her. Lorelai really wanted to talk to Rory about the whole situation, but her insistence on figuring out what was wrong with Rory took her too far. She saw Rory sitting all by herself near the guestbook, and she took a seat next to her. "Hey, stranger."

Rory looked at Lorelai. "Hey."

Lorelai smiled. She was speaking to her. It was a good sign. "Good turnout?"

"Yep."

Lorelai sat for a minute, trying to think of a not so awkward change in conversation that would point to a reconciliation. "Do you want something to drink?" she blurted out.

Rory saw right through her mother's vain attempts to make polite conversation to lead up to an apology. "Are you trying to make up?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "No, I'm trying to hydrate you."

"I'm fine, thanks."

Lorelai couldn't take it anymore. She felt terrible for starting the fight, and she felt even more terrible that she couldn't share the piece of good news with Rory because of it. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Rory replied.

Lorelai wasn't convinced that she was fully forgiven. "A crazy evil spirit obsessed with bra size took over my body."

Rory gave her a half smile. "It happens."

"She's gone now."

"Good to know."

Lorelai sighed. That moment was over. They weren't fighting and she felt fairly confident that Rory had forgiven her. She had an urge to keep babbling, but she kept quiet for a few minutes. Once the awkwardness subsided, they would chat about Luke.

"What's Luke doing here?" Rory asked suddenly.

Lorelai cleared her throat. Her plan was foiled. Luke was making his way toward the table and Lorelai was speechless. She felt a poke in the ribs, but ignored it as she surveyed the clean-shaven and well-dressed diner owner who was approaching her. What was Luke doing there? She had to know. She stood up from the chair, crouched down beside Rory once again, and leaned in close to whisper in Rory's ear. "Um, long story, but I'll leave you with a Quentin Tarantino type 'ending at the beginning to make you wonder.' Luke and I… well, we have a thing."

Rory gasped, and with that, Lorelai walked around the table to greet him. She was finding Rory's surprised expression amusing, so she'd let her stew just a little longer.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a smile.

"Felt bad for keeping you up all night. I came to apologize," he teased.

She playfully slapped his arm. "You did not; you just wanted to come check me out."

"I cannot tell a lie," he smirked.

Lorelai laughed. "You're awfully quippy when you want to be."

He rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. "Don't get used to it." She leaned in and gave him a kiss, and as she began to deepen it, he suddenly pulled back. "What the hell are you doing? Rory can see us, everyone can see us."

She linked her arms around his waist. "Relax. I want Rory to see that I struck out after all."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You mean that you didn't strike out?"

"Oh, my! Did I give you the incorrect metaphor? I think you need to teach me some more, I'm clearly not up to snuff!" she said in fake horror.

"You're exhausting," he muttered.

She raised her eyebrows. "And you're pretty. Coach Danes, you need to teach me some more about baseball. How do you get to second base?"

"Lorelai."

"I think I have an idea. Can I show you inside?"

"Lorelai."

"Maybe I'll learn to get to third base today," she continued, in a high-pitched voice.

He leaned in and kissed her once again. "You don't ever shut up, do you?" he asked as she pulled away.

"I do when Coach shows me first base like that," she grinned.

The End


End file.
